Introduction BBRC and Associates is a bright, young group of educators with a passion for innovation. Our vision is to have a learning environment by 2025 that breaks down barriers to learning for everyone by having students collaborate and “shape” the learning process (Barseghian, 2011). We believe that students learn best when learning with other students. By making use of social constructivist ideas and connectivism, learning becomes a group activity focused on questions and collaboration. This new classroom will use the teacher as the facilitator of knowledge that encourages student growth through the use of project and inquiry based learning. The end goal of our program would not be to create “smart” people, but instead, innovators, problem-solvers and life-long learners that are able to adapt to an ever changing world.
As far as curriculum and its development are concerned, major changes will be seen in moving away from the agrarian structure of education into a post-industrial mode of thinking, which makes greater use of the burgeoning technologies on our forefront. Education now becomes personalized and available 24/7 with a variety of teaching “agents” (Barseghian, 2011). So much of our lives are already connected to the cloud network – why not education?
BBRC Partners
Brian Johnson
Brian is currently the single credit coordinator at the Regional Alternative School in Bloomington, Illinois. Additionally, he teaches high school math for the program. Prior to working at his current location, Brian completed his undergraduate studies obtaining a Bachelor of Science at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He continued his education by pursuing his Masters in Sport Management also at Illinois State University. Brian is entering his final semester of his second Masters at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign in the Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform sequence. He also heads the technology component of a 7-district curriculum team currently in the process of creating a full year of math and English curriculum based on the new national learning standards. This curriculum will be on line based incorporating Moodle as the learning management system.
Bryce Hartranft
Bryce is a 5th year teacher and counselor at Rantoul Township High School's alternative credit recovery program Eagle Academy. He teaches social studies and math while tracking student progress to ensure they graduate on-time. Bryce graduated from the University of Illinois in 2007 and is currently working on his Master of Education at the University of Illinois' CTER program. In his spare time he enjoys craft beer, learning history and soccer.
Rachel Hurst
Rachel has taught PreK and art at a Northwestern University charter program for the past five years. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching swim at the local YMCA. She previously directed a tutoring program for grades K-8 for three years, before beginning the CTER program at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and has also taught kindergarten. She is a member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (inducted 2011) at UIUC. Research interests include autism spectrum, genetics, educational psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She has a B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in ECE from Miami University of Ohio (2006).
Carmen Gioiosa
Carmen began her career with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2001 as an Italian teacher at Carl Schurz High School, a neighborhood high school. During her teaching career she wrote curriculum for newly created courses of Italian I, II, III, and Advanced Placement; served as the President of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) for 2 years; was a member of Mayor Daley’s Sister City delegation to Milan, Italy to sign the city’s Memorandum of Understanding to foster the exchange of principals, teachers and students between the two cities; planned and hosted principal delegations from Milan, through the Sister Cities program; and has presented at numerous Illinois Council on the Teaching for Foreign Languages (ICTFL) conferences on various teaching practices in the world language classroom. Carmen left the classroom after eight years in October 2009 to support CPS’ work in Response to Intervention (RtI) as a project manager. She is currently a graduate student pursuing her doctorate in Education, Organization, and Leadership. Her research focus is college and career readiness of secondary school students.
To start your journey through our proposal for education in 2025, go to Curriculum and Pedagogy.
Education in 2025
EPSY 556 Group 3
Introduction
BBRC and Associates is a bright, young group of educators with a passion for innovation. Our vision is to have a learning environment by 2025 that breaks down barriers to learning for everyone by having students collaborate and “shape” the learning process (Barseghian, 2011). We believe that students learn best when learning with other students. By making use of social constructivist ideas and connectivism, learning becomes a group activity focused on questions and collaboration. This new classroom will use the teacher as the facilitator of knowledge that encourages student growth through the use of project and inquiry based learning. The end goal of our program would not be to create “smart” people, but instead, innovators, problem-solvers and life-long learners that are able to adapt to an ever changing world.
As far as curriculum and its development are concerned, major changes will be seen in moving away from the agrarian structure of education into a post-industrial mode of thinking, which makes greater use of the burgeoning technologies on our forefront. Education now becomes personalized and available 24/7 with a variety of teaching “agents” (Barseghian, 2011). So much of our lives are already connected to the cloud network – why not education?
BBRC Partners
Brian is currently the single credit coordinator at the Regional Alternative School in Bloomington, Illinois. Additionally, he teaches high school math for the program. Prior to working at his current location, Brian completed his undergraduate studies obtaining a Bachelor of Science at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He continued his education by pursuing his Masters in Sport Management also at Illinois State University. Brian is entering his final semester of his second Masters at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign in the Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform sequence. He also heads the technology component of a 7-district curriculum team currently in the process of creating a full year of math and English curriculum based on the new national learning standards. This curriculum will be on line based incorporating Moodle as the learning management system.
Bryce Hartranft
Bryce is a 5th year teacher and counselor at Rantoul Township High School's alternative credit recovery program Eagle Academy. He teaches social studies and math while tracking student progress to ensure they graduate on-time. Bryce graduated from the University of Illinois in 2007 and is currently working on his Master of Education at the University of Illinois' CTER program. In his spare time he enjoys craft beer, learning history and soccer.
Rachel has taught PreK and art at a Northwestern University charter program for the past five years. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching swim at the local YMCA. She previously directed a tutoring program for grades K-8 for three years, before beginning the CTER program at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and has also taught kindergarten. She is a member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (inducted 2011) at UIUC. Research interests include autism spectrum, genetics, educational psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She has a B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in ECE from Miami University of Ohio (2006).
Carmen began her career with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2001 as an Italian teacher at Carl Schurz High School, a neighborhood high school. During her teaching career she wrote curriculum for newly created courses of Italian I, II, III, and Advanced Placement; served as the President of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) for 2 years; was a member of Mayor Daley’s Sister City delegation to Milan, Italy to sign the city’s Memorandum of Understanding to foster the exchange of principals, teachers and students between the two cities; planned and hosted principal delegations from Milan, through the Sister Cities program; and has presented at numerous Illinois Council on the Teaching for Foreign Languages (ICTFL) conferences on various teaching practices in the world language classroom. Carmen left the classroom after eight years in October 2009 to support CPS’ work in Response to Intervention (RtI) as a project manager. She is currently a graduate student pursuing her doctorate in Education, Organization, and Leadership. Her research focus is college and career readiness of secondary school students.
To start your journey through our proposal for education in 2025, go to Curriculum and Pedagogy.